Killing
brings the issue of school cops to fore
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 • BY
KASI ADDISON • Star-Ledger Staff
Candice Gainer almost stayed home from
school yesterday.
Like many students at Weequahic High, she
was still upset by the deadly shooting of the school's
police officer on Monday.
Reassured by reports of additional
security, her mother made her go.
"I didn't want to come today," said the
high school senior as she rushed to get in line for the
metal detectors before school. "It's scary."
The shooting death of Dwayne Reeves has
intensified concerns about security in the Newark schools.
School security guards and Newark police were scattered
along the Chancellor Avenue block in front of Weequahic High
School throughout the day.
Reeves was shot in the head as he
attempted to break up a fight and later died in University
Hospital in Newark.
His partner, Akia Scott, was shot in the
hand during the attack and was treated and released. Omar
Tindell, the alleged shooter, has been charged with murder
and another man, Hassan Reeds, faces weapons
charges.
The shooting highlighted the Newark
Public Schools' decision to place special police officers in
the buildings to provide additional security for both
students and teachers.
The officers' main duty is to handle
criminal activity and to protect in and around the schools
before, during and after classes. They carry weapons and
have full police powers, but do not work for the
city.
After a failed attempt to place Newark
Police in the positions, school police officers were
assigned to six high schools, including Weequahic, on May 1,
said Willie Freeman, the district's director of security
services.
Though there are already 12 to 14 unarmed
security guards at each high school, parents were pushing
for added protection and armed police were decided upon, he
said.
"Parents were concerned with activity
happening after school. Students being robbed, jumped,"
Freeman said. "The superintendent (Marion Bolden) decided to
beef up security."
During the summer session, two officers
are assigned to each of the three high schools holding
classes -- Weequahic, Barringer and East Side. But Weequahic
was Reeves' permanent home.
"People might say it's a soft assignment,
but it's not so much what we see on the inside (of the
schools), but what's on the outside," Freeman
said.
The district now has a plan in place to
increase the number of special officers at all the high
schools, Freeman said, and the details are being worked
out.
Wilhelmina Holder, president of the
Secondary Parents Council, hopes some of that will be
addressed during a community meeting being held today at 5
p.m. in Weequahic High School. Parents, school and city
officials are expected to attend.
Staff writer Jeffrey Mays contributed to this report.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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